Sunday, February 7, 2010

What Is A 30 Second Super Bowl Ad Really Worth?

It's Super Bowl Sunday and you're sitting around the TV with your closest friends. Ten minutes to kickoff and your heart starts racing in anticipation of how the next 4.5 hours will dazzle and excite you. After at least one full week of planning and enthusiasm the time has finally come... for the first ad!

I know what you're thinking and the answer is "no." We here at Stars and Slights are not, like many Americans, more interested in the entertainment provided during the intermissions between possesion changes and mandated TV timeouts than the actual game.

Truth be told, though, we recognize the symbol if importance of paying close attention to the game outside of the real game: the competition for the "best" or "funniest" Super Bowl ad.

For just 30 easy payments of $100,000 you could find your advertisement, which probably cost at least $50,000 to produce, being viewed by nearly 40 million people worldwide.

Live sporting events, especially the Super Bowl, are one of the few remaining sources for advertisers to keep viewers tuned in rather than channel surfing to avoid advertisements. With that privilege comes a very steep price but, for many advertisers, the benefit of 40 million viewers and impressions outweighs the cost to produce and place an ad during "the big game."